


Fingerling

by Meicdon13



Category: Aquaman (2018)
Genre: Age Regression/De-Aging, Fluff and Humor, Gen, I'm Bad At Titles, Post-Canon, Toddlers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-01
Updated: 2019-05-01
Packaged: 2020-02-11 00:02:11
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,360
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18671089
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Meicdon13/pseuds/Meicdon13
Summary: On top of his punishment for trying to be the king Atlantis needed, Orm now has to deal with a tinier version of the bastard that put him in prison.





	Fingerling

**Author's Note:**

  * For [dyules](https://archiveofourown.org/users/dyules/gifts).



> Hope I did your prompt justice, my friend! ♥
> 
> Many thanks to [crookedspoon](https://archiveofourown.org/users/crookedspoon) for the beta! (And for patiently waiting while I got my act together orz)
> 
> 🐦 [Twitter](https://twitter.com/MtBlackBear)  
> 🐑 [Dreamwidth](https://meicdon13.dreamwidth.org/)

It was almost time for Orm’s weekly torture among the surface-dwellers and Arthur still hadn’t made an appearance.

Not that Orm _cared_. He most certainly did not. But this break in routine was admittedly strange and he wondered if it was a sign of some weakness that he could exploit. Was Arthur finally cracking under the pressure of leading Atlantis? Were his people finally seeing the truth; that his bastard brother was completely inferior to him in every way?

Orm was in the middle of plotting when Vulko arrived with four armored soldiers to escort him to the surface.

“The mighty King of Atlantis couldn’t be bothered to show his face today?” Orm sneered.

The look on Vulko’s face was a mix of exasperated and amused, an expression that Orm was familiar with from his younger years. “You’ll see Arthur soon enough. He and Mera are waiting for you on the surface.”

Curious. Arthur made it a point to be present during what he called Orm’s “community service,” added muscle to keep him in check while he helped rebuild the town he had destroyed with a tsunami. Mera, however, rarely made an appearance.

Orm stayed quiet for the rest of the trip and continued to plan.

*****

“There you are!” Mera said. “Can you hold him for a second?” Before Orm could protest, she shoved a human child into his arms and ran off. “Stay with Orm, Arthur! I’ll be right back.”

Orm held the child at arm’s length, scowling at it. “Vulko, what is the meaning of this?”

The child stared at him, large eyes almost completely obscured by long, curly hair. It was hideous.

Vulko shrugged. “Arthur and Mera were gathering artifacts from the Lost Kingdom to bring back to Atlantis. There was an … incident.”

“What kind of idiot accidentally triggers a powerful ancient artifact?” Orm squinted at the child. “You are a fool that doesn’t deserve the throne.”

Orm barely evaded the hand that made a grab for his nose.

*****

“I’m here!” Mera announced. “What did I miss?”

“Arthur keeps trying to get Orm to carry him,” Vulko said. “It’s quite entertaining.”

Mera watched as Orm loaded stacks of lumber onto a waiting pickup truck, Arthur toddling along behind him. The townspeople helping in the reconstruction efforts made sure to give Arthur room to run without bumping into anyone or anything. “Owm! Up!” he demanded, arms lifted. “Up!”

“ _Oh no_ ,” Mera whispered, trying not to laugh. Beside her, one of the Atlantean soldiers pressed a hand over his chest. A large, tattoo-covered man seemed to be recording the entire thing with a bright pink rectangular device.

“Owm! Uuuup!”

“Stop following me, surface-dweller spawn!”

*****

“Oh, look at you! My darling boy,” Atlanna cooed as she bounced Arthur on her hip.

Orm sniffed in disdain. “This only proves that he is not worthy to lead Atlantis. How long is he going to be like this?”

“He’ll probably be back to normal soon,” Atlanna said. “There’s no need to worry.”

“Look at him, Mother! He’s small and weak!”

Atlanna reached out and pinched Orm’s cheek with her free hand. “You were this small once, my son.”

“That’s not my point!”

Atlanna kept on talking, her tone becoming wistful. “When I first held you after you were born, I hoped you and your brother could meet one day.”

Orm fought the urge to dive into the ocean and swim away from the suddenly heartfelt conversation.

Arthur chose that moment to reach out to Orm and whine. “Up!”

Atlanna, delighted, handed him to Orm who relented with a long-suffering sigh. She smiled when Arthur immediately placed his head against Orm’s shoulder. “I just never thought that you’d be the big brother when it happened,” she laughed.

She looked radiant in her joy. Orm couldn’t remember the last time he had seen his mother so happy.

He decided that he could suffer the injustice of having the spawn leak drool all over him for a few more minutes.

*****

Arthur started crying the moment he realized that Orm was leaving. It wasn’t—to Orm’s surprise—loud bawling, just a continuous stream of tears and a wobbly bottom lip.

Tom gave Arthur a squeeze. “Orm will be back tomorrow. Don’t worry.”

Watching the spawn dejectedly wave goodbye made his stomach twist in ways he refused to examine.

*****

Arthur insisted on going to the construction area whenever the Atlanteans arrived, spending most of his time following Orm or Mera around. Against his better judgment, Orm quickly grew accustomed to having a small shadow trailing along behind him.

Sometimes Arthur would get distracted by the soldiers’ armor and spend a few minutes patting the shiny surfaces. Once, he made a grab for a soldier’s gun. The man jerked it out of his reach while one of his fellows yanked Arthur away, startling the spawn and making him burst into tears.

Orm didn’t say anything though he took great amusement in the verbal thrashing Vulko gave the soldiers.

*****

Orm found himself standing in front of what Vulko called a “daycare,” trying to avoid being run over by an unholy number of screeching surface spawn and half-seriously wishing that the Karathen had eaten him during the last battle.

The only reason he had even agreed to set foot near this place was because Atlanna had asked him to. Mera had dropped Arthur off in the morning but Tom was unable to pick him up, seeing as he was currently wrapped in a pathetic blanket pile at the lighthouse.

“No! Give back!”

Vulko and the soldiers immediately turned to look where Arthur’s voice had come from but Orm was much faster, marching to where a larger boy was holding a piece of paper out of Arthur’s reach.

He snatched it out of the boy’s grubby hands before bending down and glaring at him. “Didn’t your pathetic excuse of a sire ever teach you manners?”

Arthur ran behind Orm’s leg and stuck his tongue out at the other child, who took one look at Orm and ran away.

“Good work, Prince Orm,” Vulko said as he and the soldiers drew nearer. “You’ve defeated a worthy foe.”

Orm ignored him in favor of handing the paper to Arthur. To his surprise, Arthur pressed his tiny hands against his. “For you.”

It was a drawing of four stick figures, helpfully labelled “Dad,” “Mom,” “Me,” and “Little Brother.” The drawing itself was crude, the handwriting illegible, and the paper creased from the bully’s grip. There was a suspicious stain in one corner that was probably from Arthur spilling something on it.

Vulko tried to be discreet as he motioned for the soldiers to look away but Orm still saw one of them trying to sneak a peek at his reaction.

Not that he reacted in any way at all. He most definitely did not do anything embarrassing and if he picked up Arthur to carry him on the walk back it was just because he wanted to return as soon as possible.

*****

“Why wasn’t _I_ included in the drawing?”

“Jealousy does not suit you, Mera.”

“That smug look on your face does not suit you either.”

*****

“Hey, man! You ready for another day of rebuilding?”

An adult-sized Arthur swam in front of Orm’s cell, looking disgustingly cheerful. At the sight of Orm’s frown, he mock-pouted. “What? You prefer tiny me?”

“In some ways, you were less infuriating as a small child.”

Arthur laughed. “Can’t blame you. I was friggin’ adorable as a kid.” He unlocked Orm’s cell and motioned for him to follow. “Now c’mon. Vulko’s getting tired of waiting. Says I have to make up for shrinking and not being able to help.”

“He has a point. You were small and useless.” Orm narrowly avoided the shove Arthur aimed at his shoulder. The buffoon insisted in rough-housing like a commoner.

“You say that, but I bet you enjoyed being the big brother for a change,” Arthur teased.

Orm decided that his pride could handle stooping to Arthur’s level for once. He kicked Arthur’s leg, making him swim into the wall, and darted off to where Vulko was waiting, smiling at the cursing behind him.


End file.
